The problem here is that managers think that writing good software is like baking a cake, if you have the right ingredients, the right process, the right environment and the right people, then you are 99% likely to end up with a satisfactory cake. This is absolutely not the case with building software.
It could very well be the red tape in the office, the politics, maneuvering, posturing, noisy programmer area, the tools programmers were given, time-wasting meetings, and thousands of other reasons.
My feeling is the blame falls on the guy claiming the problem space consists of "the programmer" or "the methodology". The manager figure delivering the bad news to the programmer is a kung fu master of politics and the art of war, he's trying to get blame placed on anywhere but himself.
I've been developing software for over 15 years and without question communication and politics are just as important as technical skills. You have to get key people on your side and you have to keep everybody up to date on the status of the project.
Actually, I think those managers are right. The problem is that the right ingredients to produce a satisfactory cake are not the same as the right ingredients to succeed in a large corporation.
I disagree. The different between building software and baking a cake is that we've had thousands of years to perfect a few dozen types of cake. The recipes are well-known and easy to follow.
Building software is very much in its infancy and many magnitudes harder than baking a cake.
And any manager who thinks just having the right ingredients, people and recipe will guarantee a good cake has never baked a cake, anyhow.
It could very well be the red tape in the office, the politics, maneuvering, posturing, noisy programmer area, the tools programmers were given, time-wasting meetings, and thousands of other reasons.
My feeling is the blame falls on the guy claiming the problem space consists of "the programmer" or "the methodology". The manager figure delivering the bad news to the programmer is a kung fu master of politics and the art of war, he's trying to get blame placed on anywhere but himself.